Sec.19a-36-A1. Definitions

As used in Sections 19a-36-A1 to 19a-36-A55:

(a) "Authorized agent" means an individual designated by a local director of health to act for him or her in the performance of any of his or her duties.

(b) "Carrier" means an infected person or animal who, without any apparent symptoms of communicable disease, harbors a specific infectious agent and may serve as a source of infection for humans. The state of harboring a specific infectious agent may occur in an individual with an infection that is inapparent throughout its course (asymptomatic carrier), or in an individual during the incubation period, convalescence, and post-convalescence of a clinically recognizable disease (incubatory carrier and convalescent carrier). The carrier state may be of short duration (transient carrier) or long duration (chronic carrier).

(c) "Case" means a person or animal who exhibits evidence of disease.

(d) "Cleaning" means the process of removal of organic matter conducive to growth or maintenance of infectivity of infectious agents by scrubbing and washing as with hot water and soap.

(e) "Commissioner" means the state commissioner of health services.

(f) "Communicable disease" means a disease or condition, the infectious agent of which may pass or be carried directly or indirectly, from the body of one person or animal to the body of another person or animal.

(g) "Communicable period" means any time period during which a specific infectious agent may be transferred directly or indirectly from an infected person or animal to another human or animal.

(h) "Contact" means a person or animal known to have had association with an infected person or animal in such a manner as to have been exposed to a particular communicable disease.

(i) "Contamination" means the presence of undesirable substance or material which may contain an infectious agent on external body surfaces (e.g., skin), articles of apparel, inanimate surfaces or in food or beverages.

(j) "Cultures" mean growths of an infectious agent propogated on selected living or artificial media.

(k) "Date of onset" means the day, month and year on which the case or suspected case experienced the first sign or symptoms of the disease.

(l) "Department" means the Connecticut Department of Health Services.

(m) "Disinfection" means a directly applied chemical or physical process by which the disease producing powers of infectious agents are destroyed. (1) "Concurrent disinfection" means the immediate disinfection and disposal of body discharges, and the immediate disinfection or destruction of all infected or presumably infected materials. (2) "Terminal disinfection" means the process of rendering the personal clothing and immediate physical environment of a patient free from the probability of conveying an infectious agent to others after removal of the patient or at a time when the patient is no longer a source of infection.

(n) "Epidemic" means the occurrence of cases of illness clearly in excess of normal expectancy over a specific time period in a community, geographic region, building or institution. The number of cases indicating an epidemic may vary according to the causative agent, size and type of population exposed, previous experience with the disease, and time and place of occurrence. An outbreak of disease is an epidemic.

(o) "Epidemiologic investigation" means an inquiry into the incidence, distribution and source of disease to determine its cause, means of prevention, and efficacy of control measures.

(p) "Foodborne outbreaks" means illness in two or more individuals acquired through the ingestion of common-source food or water contaminated with chemicals, infectious agents or their toxic products. Foodborne outbreaks include, but are not limited to, illness due to heavy metal intoxications, staphylococcal food poisoning, botulism, salmonellosis, shigellosis, Clostridium perfringens intoxication and hepatitis A.

(q) "Foodhandler" means a person who prepares, processes, or otherwise handles food or beverages for people other than members of his or her immediate household.

(r) "Health care facility" means any hospital, long term care facility, home health care agency, clinic or other institution licensed under Chapter 368v of the Connecticut General Statutes and also facilities operated and maintained by any state agency for the care or treatment of mentally ill persons or persons with mental retardation or substance abuse problems.

(s) "Health care provider" means a person who has direct or supervisory responsibility for the delivery of health care or medical services. This shall include but not be limited to: licensed physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, dentists, medical examiners, and administrators, superintendents and managers of health care facilities.

(t) "Incubation period" means the time interval between exposure to a disease organism and the appearance of the first symptoms of the resulting disease.

(u) "Infection" means the entry and multiplication of an infectious agent in the body of a person or animal with or without clinical symptoms.

(v) "Infectious agent" means a microorganism capable of producing infection with or without disease.

(w) "Isolation" means the use of special precautions during the period of communicability to prevent transmission of an infectious agent. Such special precautions may include: physical separation of infected persons or animals from others, or precautions such as blood precautions that do not necessarily result in physical separation of individuals.

(x) "Laboratory" means any facility licensed, or approved by the department in accordance with section 19a-30 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(y) "Local director of health" means and includes the city, town, borough or district director of health and any person legally authorized to act for the local director of health.

(z) "Medical information" means the recorded health information on an individual who has a reportable disease or who has symptoms of illness in the setting of an outbreak. This information includes details of a medical history, physical examination, any laboratory test, diagnosis, treatment, outcome and the description and sources of suspected causative agents for such disease or illness.

(aa) "Nosocomial infection" means infections that develop within a hospital or other health care facility or are produced by microorganisms acquired while in a hospital or health care facility.

(bb) "Outbreak." See "epidemic."

(cc) "Quarantine" means the formal limitation of freedom of movement of persons or animals exposed to, or suffering from a reportable disease for a period of time not longer than either the longest incubation period or the longest communicable period of the disease, in order to prevent spread of the infectious agent of that disease.

(dd) "Reportable disease" means a communicable disease, disease outbreak, or other condition of public health significance required to be reported to the department and local health directors.

(ee) "Reportable laboratory finding" means a laboratory result suggesting the presence of a communicable disease or other condition of public health significance required to be reported to the department and local health directors.

(ff) "State epidemiologist" means the person designated by the Commissioner as the person in charge of communicable disease control for the state.

(gg) "Surveillance" means the continuing scrutiny of all aspects of occurrence and spread of a disease relating to effective control of that disease, which may include but not be limited to the collection and evaluation of: morbidity and mortality reports; laboratory reports of significant findings; special reports of field investigations of epidemics and individual cases; data concerning the availability, use, and untoward side effects of the substances used in disease control, such as rabies vaccine; and information regarding immunity levels in segments of the population.

(hh) "Suspected case" means a person or animal suspected of having a particular disease in the temporary or permanent absence of definitive clinical or laboratory evidence.

(ii) "Other condition of public health significance" means a non-communicable disease caused by a common source or prevalent exposure such as pesticide poisoning, silicosis or lead poisoning.

(Effective October 25, 1989; Amended October 10, 2008)